Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Links

Companies that make ethanol, a controversial fuel made from corn touted as a way to counter global warming, stand to profit if there's a rush to adopt biofuel alternatives as alarm increases over fossil fuel.

Mike McKenna, a GOP energy strategist who lobbies for industry, pointed to reports that one OFA-backed climate rally in the capital drew zero supporters last week as a sign that the newly aggressive push could do little substantively but embolden more Blackburn-esque replies.

"By raising the issue, and then failing on any follow-through," McKenna said via email, "the Obama guys are actually doing their cause a disservice because they embolden folks on the other side. The more elected officials understand that they can raise all kinds of questions (science-based as well as economic) with impunity, the more likely they are to raise questions."

Once the IPCC releases AR5, scientists will hand off the baton to the policymakers. The case for dramatic action of the kind the global green set has tried and failed to secure for years now will be harder to make if the IPCC admits to greater uncertainty about local effects of warming. The green unicorn hunters will lose the most magical bow in their quiver: fear-mongering in the name of science.

That’s for the best. The more that politically impossible policy ideas fade into the background, the greater the chances that saner voices will be heard, and the more likely it is that the low-hanging fruits will be plucked—policies like telework and energy efficiency, to name just a couple. Greens have been woefully ineffective as policy advocates, but if this sneak preview is an accurate representation of what’s to come in the next IPCC report, they could be getting a much-needed opportunity to hit the reset button.